German Chancellor Angela Merkel has called US
President Barack Obama after receiving
information that the US may have spied on her
mobile phone.
A spokesman for Mrs Merkel said the German leader
"views such practices... as completely unacceptable".
Mrs Merkel has called on US officials to clarify the
extent of their surveillance in Germany.
The White House said President Obama had told
Chancellor Merkel the US was not snooping on her
communications.
"The United States is not monitoring and will not
monitor the communications of the chancellor," White
House spokesman Jay Carney said on Wednesday.
'Breach of trust'
Mr Carney told reporters that Washington was
examining concerns from Germany as well as France
and other American allies over US intelligence practices.
Mrs Merkel called on US officials to clarify the extent of
surveillance in Germany
But the spokesman did not address whether Mrs
Merkel's phone had been monitored in the past.
Her call comes a day after US intelligence chief James
Clapper denied reports that American spies had
recorded data from 70 million phone calls in France in
a single 30-day period.
He said a report in Le Monde newspaper had contained
"misleading information".
The German government would not elaborate on how
it received the tip about alleged US spying on its
leader's communications.
But news magazine Der Spiegel, which has published
stories based on material from fugitive US leaker
Edward Snowden, said the information had come
from its investigations .
Berlin demanded "an immediate and comprehensive
explanation" from Washington about what it said
"would be a serious breach of trust".
In a statement, it said: "Among close friends and
partners, as the Federal Republic of Germany and the
US have been for decades, there should be no such
monitoring of the communications of a head of
government."
The statement also said that Mrs Merkel had told Mr
Obama: "Such practices must be prevented
immediately."
The US has been on the receiving end of anger from
other allies over the Snowden spying allegations.
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff cancelled a visit to
the US this month in protest at alleged electronic
espionage by the US National Security Agency against
her country, including of communications at her office.
In a speech at the United Nations, she rejected
arguments put forward by the US that the interception
of information was aimed at protecting nations against
terrorism, drugs trafficking and other organised crime.
The Mexican government has called the alleged spying
on the emails of two presidents, Enrique Pena Nieto,
the incumbent, and Felipe Calderon, as "unacceptable".
US officials have begun a review of American
intelligence gathering amid the international outcry.
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